Chooch, and others, thank you for the feedback in this thread; please keep it coming. This is actually something I think about often, and it's a valid concern.

In regards to my Foundry challenges, when I was originally envisioning it, I knew that "we'd learn as we go" and need to adapt to feedback received. Originally, the time allotted to create the mission was only 3 weeks. Based on feedback received, this was extended to 4 weeks for the second and third challenge. Also, the "background story" to go off when making the mission went from a couple paragraphs to a couple sentences -- this was also based off feedback received and the desire to not have too much of a restriction. The change allowed authors to tell the story they wanted to, but with an underlying theme rather than a set plot.

As the challenges continue on, I have no doubt that we'll need to continue adjusting. For example, looking at some of the "close calls" some of you have spoke about, I am in agreement that the "building" time needs to be reevaluated. For the next challenge, I'm going to increase the time to 6 weeks. It's not as long as the 2.5 months suggested, but hopefully it will relieve some of the "rush" those who participate are feeling. If we need to extend it longer for the one after that, I am certainly open to it.

As you can imagine, most authors simply do not have the time to participate in every challenge out there. With SUGC, PodcastUGC, GoS and others also hosting contests, it is certainly understandable. One thing that's really great is that each of these typically have different "themes", so you can find one you find interesting and one that you would like to participate in.

It seems that with every challenge, here and abroad, new author names are popping up. I think this is the best part of it all. Whether you take first place or not, it's all about the spirit of the Foundry, and putting your story, vision, and creation out there for the community to see. With every new mission you make, you also gain experience and technique that will help you when you sit down to make your next mission (whether it is for a contest or just to tell a story you've been story-boarding for years).

Also, Greedo hit the nail on the head in regards to why the length of the mission is requested to be 30 minutes long, but no longer that 45 minutes.

Chooch's idea about having the first place missions become a Spotlighted mission is a great idea, and I am going to add that to the "prize" list*. We did have Maziken's mission, Foundry Challenge #1's winning mission, make the spotlight, and I will get both winners from Foundry Challenge #2 in the Spotlight soon. *Missions do have to fall within EULA guidelines, as with any Foundry mission, and not break any rules (not that any have done that, but just saying :p)

Quote:

Originally Posted by theapparatus

Would love to actually see my ticket about the issue but even though Branflakes saying that the imgame ticket system works fine, I can't see that ticket or any of them.

If you submitted a bug report ticket, they go straight to QA, so you don't see those in-game -- they also don't get personalized responses, so that's why you don't see them once you submit Make sure to submit a GM ticket when you are needing a response/ GM assistance on something, like the issue you've described The GM team will look into those and respond/ ask additional questions as necessary.